NIC Islamabad held the Final Judging Round for its Acceleration Program Cohort 5 on October 5, 2026, with 15 shortlisted startups presenting before a panel comprising Sayyed Ahmad Masud, Faisal Shuja Khan, Adnan Faisal, Amees Ahmad, Muhammad Ali Iqbal, Komal Kenneth Shakeel, Ali Moeen Malik and Shayan Yar. The round marked the culmination of a multi-stage selection process, bringing the cohort’s evaluation to its final stage after two earlier rounds of screening.
The startups were evaluated across key areas including financial traction, team strength, scalability, growth potential and overall business progress, giving the judging panel a structured basis for comparing ventures that had already demonstrated enough promise to survive the earlier screening stages. Weighing these specific criteria together allowed judges to assess not just how far a startup has come, but how realistically it can continue growing once it moves beyond the Acceleration Program itself.
The judges appreciated the quality of startups coming through the selection process and engaged directly with founders as they presented their businesses and growth journeys, an exchange that gave both sides more than a one-directional pitch presentation. For founders, that engagement offered a chance to field pointed questions from experienced evaluators, while for the judges it provided a closer look at how well each founder understood the mechanics and risks behind their own growth numbers.
With the final judging round now concluded, the evaluation for NIC Islamabad’s Acceleration Program Cohort 5 has reached its final stage, closing out a process that moved from an initial applicant pool through two screening rounds and into this concentrated, judge-led final pitching session. The programme continues to be supported by the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication Pakistan, Tech Destination Pakistan and Ignite National Technology Fund.
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